


Alive

by SquirrelKiln



Series: Ben 10 Angst, Baby [6]
Category: Ben 10 Series
Genre: Gen, angst again, short fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:53:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23103529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SquirrelKiln/pseuds/SquirrelKiln
Summary: In which I literally have so many short, angsty fics revolving around Ben that I forget I have them until I'm cleaning my Docs.But yeah, short story about Ben's insecurities (of course). Warning for mild descriptions of injuries. IIRC then this story came from me seeing a cat meme. Funny how that works, huh?
Relationships: Ben Tennyson & Max Tennyson, Rook Blonko & Ben Tennyson
Series: Ben 10 Angst, Baby [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1649788
Comments: 3
Kudos: 51





	Alive

Ben sucked in a breath when the nurse pulled a bandage too tightly around his arm. He didn't say anything about it, too focused on how fast he'd be leaving the med bay once the nurse decided he was properly patched up. He absolutely hated how he was the only one down, how Rook was out in the field alone against an enemy when he should've had backup.

"Can't you hurry up with that?" Ben asked in a snappy tone, glancing at the nurse. The alien rolled their eyes and continued working without speaking in return.

Although the minor injuries were already beginning to heal thanks to the Omnitrix's healing affinity, the nurse insisted on treating them. But the second all the major injuries were ‘taken care of’ (a gash on his arm, rolled wrist, a deep cut on his cheek with bare minimum care), Ben hopped off the stretcher he was sat on and tried to rush out of the room.

Of course, he was stopped before he could exit.

"Ben," Max's voice was enough to stop Ben had the man not stepped in the doorway. "You should sit down to recover."

"I'm fine," Ben argued. He hesitated before trying to move past Max. No luck there.

"No you're not. You're lucky you moved out of the way before you were impaled on the wreckage of the building." Max tried to sound stern but the worry overtook him. Ben stopped where he was and clenched his fists by his side.

"And if I wasn't distracted I wouldn't have been thrown into the building in the first place. I know, I messed up. You don't have to remind me." Ben could hardly hear the nurse leaving the room by another exit.

"That's not what I meant." Max said softly.

"It's the truth. Because I'm so... fucking weak, my partner's out there fighting alone!" Ben's voice started to raise in volume. Max didn't flinch, only giving an empathetic look. "It's my fault."

"No, it's not."

"It is! No matter how long I do this stupid job I always mess up!" Ben threw his arms out but winced as he felt the pain of his injuries complaining from it. He drew his arms in again, practically shaking in his rage. Even if the situation wasn't serious, the feelings had been building up for a long time. Because of it they threatened to spill over in the tears Ben fought to keep back.

Max shut his eyes for a moment. He reached out and placed a gentle hand on his grandson's shoulder before pulling him into a hug.

"You can't always be the strongest hero," Max whispered. Advice he heard a long time ago from someone who was long gone. "Sometimes... Sometimes, being an alive one is good enough."

Ben stood frozen in Max's arms. Too many things were running through his mind, through his heart, for him to react at first. But the second that changed he hugged his grandpa back like he was ten years old again. Even after the years that had passed, his grandpa's arms still felt like the safest place in the universe.

"... Can you rest just a bit longer?" Max whispered. "For me."

"... Fine." Ben muttered. "But after I'm fine, I'm back in the field."

"Of course. Rook can't dish out the banter like you can, you know that." Max joked. Ben laughed softly and slowly pulled away from the hug.

"He's been learning." Ben smiled as he rubbed at his eyes.


End file.
